Left Them Loved Myself (Stella Spencer) novel Chapter 165

The biting cold of the ground seeped through her thin clothes as Stella’s consciousness drifted on the edge of a thick darkness. Every shallow breath sent a fresh wave of tearing pain through her.

Her right shoulder and back were long past feeling, replaced by a heavy, profound numbness.

But a sticky warmth was trickling down her waist, a grotesque, itching sensation as it slid across her skin. It was her own

blood.

I’ve lost too much,‘ she realized.

The blackness closing in wasn’t the night; it was the precursor to losing consciousness completely.

Her vision pulsed with dark spots, the world spinning around her as if she were about to be swallowed by a bottomless abyss.

She was running on pure survival instinct and a stubborn, unfinished resolve, biting the inside of her cheek, using the sharp pain to cling to her last shred of awareness.

ist then, the small body in her arms began to squirm violently.

et me down! You’re hurting me! I don’t want you to hold me!” Irene’s shrill, tearful voice shattered the tense silence. She was lost in a false sense of security, indignant that Stella was ignoring her and deeply aggrieved by the perceived slight. The sudden struggle was the final straw. Stella’s body, already pushed far beyond its limits, could hold on no longer. With a thud, she pitched forward, collapsing to the ground.

Irene was thrown from her arms, landing safely on Stella’s already battered body, completely unharmed.

“Ah!”

Irene let out a short cry of surprise, then scrambled up angrily, stomping her foot. She didn’t even glance at the mother who had just cushioned her fall. “You hurt me! Bad mommy! I already said sorry and you still-”

Her complaint died in her throat.

The deep darkness blurred her vision, and consumed by her own tantrum, Irene hadn’t noticed the state her mother was in. Stella, the woman Irene had been sitting on, was covered in dark red blood and mud. Beneath her tattered clothes, there wasn’t a single patch of unscathed skin.

Deep, ugly gashes gaped open, and fresh blood was gushing out, forming a terrifying, ever–expanding dark pool beneath

her.

Stella’s eyes were unfocused, her breathing faint, as if she were hovering on the very line between life and death.

‘Found ‘em. Over here!” a low, triumphant male voice called out from the nearby shadows.

Irene flinched, her whole body trembling. She looked back in terror and saw the hazy outline of a tall figure closing in fast,

Her little mind was seized by fear. ‘Mommy said we escaped. Why are there still bad guys?

Survival instinct overrode everything else. Without another look at her dying mother, she bolted like a startled rabbit into the deeper darkness.

Her mind was consumed by a single, cold thought: “The bad guy will go after Mommy I can get away

1/3

Chapter 165

The image of her small daughter fleeing without a second thought was the last thing Stella saw before her eyes closed completely.

There was no anger, no sorrow, just a cold, utter emptiness.

She no longer held out any hope for that child. And without hope, there could be no disappointment.

Her consciousness began to fade into an endless black. As a mother, she thought wearily, I’ve done everything I could… and even things I shouldn’t have.

With my life… this should settle the debt, right?

“This way… we’re truly… even…

“Stella-”

A heart–wrenching scream tore through the night sky.

Was that Erica’s voice?‘

must be a hallucination. Something you hear before you die.’

int, weak smile touched Stella’s lips as she offered a silent farewell. ‘Erica… let’s be friends… in the next life…”

Then, she plunged into an endless darkness.

*****

‘Get out! All of you, get out!

“The Spencer family doesn’t welcome you here! Especially you, you heartless little thing!

‘Look at what you did to your mother! If the authorities hadn’t pulled the security footage from the villa, I would never have believed it myself. You actually watched her bleed to death for you and just ran away without a backward glance?

“Do you have a shred of humanity? Is this how you repay her for risking her life to protect you?”

Her consciousness felt submerged and hazy, and a familiar voice, thick with rage, reached her through the fog, a broken torrent of words hammering at her eardrums.

That’s my aunt… who is she yelling at?‘

Stella fought to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt glued shut. She managed to force them open a tiny crack, and a blinding white light flooded her vision.

“She’s awake! Stella’s awake! Doctor, doctor, her eyes moved!” Erica’s overjoyed, tearful shriek cut through the fog in Stella’s mind like a shard of ice.

Her head was ringing, as if filled with a thousand buzzing bees.

She wanted to respond, to see clearly, but her body felt like it was filled with lead. The faint flicker of consciousness was instantly swallowed by a deeper darkness.

Time had lost all meaning.

2/3

After an unknown period, Stella’s consciousness once again struggled to the surface.

This time, she could finally feel her body–the all–encompassing pain, especially in her right shoulder and back, which felt like it was being pierced by countless red–hot needles.

Her throat was so dry it felt like it would crack, and every swallow was agony.

Her blurry vision slowly came into focus. She saw several hazy figures gathered around her bed. One, in a white coat, was speaking in a calm, clear voice.

“Luckily, she was brought in just in time. The patient experienced massive blood loss, a comminuted fracture of her right shoulder joint, and seven deep lacerations on her back from glass shards. Three of those were dangerously close to the spinal cord, making the surgery extremely high–risk… Fortunately, we successfully removed them all without damaging the main nerve trunk. The risk of paralysis is gone.

“Additionally, she has extensive soft tissue contusions and abrasions all over her body, which will take time to heal. Her vitals are stable now. Her body’s natural defense mechanism has put her into a deep sleep to repair itself, which is a good thing. When she wakes up on her own, it will mean she’s entering the next phase of recovery…

stening to the doctor’s description, a cold dread wrapped around Stella’s heart.

sive blood loss, a shattered bone, nearly paralyzed… every word was a reminder of her brush with death.

She could even picture herself at that moment–wrapped from head to toe in bandages like a clumsy mummy, immobilized on the hospital bed.

“Stella! You’re awake?! You’re really awake!” Erica’s distinct, tearful voice rang out again, this time filled with the pure, unadulterated joy of having her back.

The room went quiet for a beat before everyone swarmed the bedside.